Cathy and Steve
Monroe, Ohio

We have been visiting Shaker Village on a nearly annual basis for the past 10 years – as long as we’ve known one another. As a librarian and museum educator, we both appreciate the educational and historic value of the village and its preservation.

More than that, Shaker Village has become like a home away from home for us. We look forward to its beauty, calm, friendliness, comfortable rooms and satisfying meals. It always gives a needed respite from our hectic work days and allows us to fully relax and reconnect with one another, and our spiritual and creative selves.  

Our favorite Shaker Village pastime is hiking in the village and on the extensive trail system. On the trails, we have had the breathtaking experience of startling an owl from a low Sycamore branch. We sat on a grassy sunny slope for an hour one afternoon listening to bluebirds sing and watching them drop over and over to the ground to pick up insects. We walked along a ridge under ancient red oaks where we found a yellow spider as fat as a nickel. Each day on the trails, we work up a huge appetite and enjoy the hearty Shaker fare waiting for us in the Trustees’ Office Dining Room.  

During a weekend visit, the bird blind near the native prairie had a profound effect on my parents, who, after viewing the spectacular variety of woodland species feeding there, established their own backyard bird feeding station. They continue to thank us often for “introducing them to the birds.”